Georgia's 'heartbeat' abortion bill could imprison women for life

Ultrasound.
(Image credit: September15/ iStock)

Georgia's new abortion bill could have some stunning prison-time consequences for women who terminate a pregnancy.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed a "heartbeat bill" into law on Tuesday, effectively outlawing most abortions after a doctor is able to detect a fetal heartbeat, which typically occurs around six weeks. While it does include some exceptions for rape, incest, or a mother's health, it also makes women liable for murder charges if they have an abortion — and could land them in prison for life, explains Slate's Mark Joseph Stern

Under the new law, different murder charges apply to women who terminate their pregnancies in different ways. A woman who self-terminates — something that wasn't punishable under a previous Georgia law — will have technically committed murder and could be imprisoned for life or face the death penalty. Those who get an abortion via a health care provider could be found guilty of being a party to murder, punishable by life in prison.

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Meanwhile, women who get legal abortions in other states, or any people who help a woman coordinate an abortion, could see a charge of conspiracy to commit murder and be imprisoned for up to 10 years. Even "a woman who miscarries because of her own conduct — say, using drugs while pregnant," could be charged with second-degree murder and face 10 to 30 years in prison, Stern explains.

As several pro-choice lawmakers and advocates pointed out, the law also neglects the fact that women might not even know they're pregnant at six weeks. That's essentially a two-week-late period, and as anyone who gets a period knows, irregularity doesn't necessarily mean pregnancy.

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Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.